


Overload

by Yrindor



Series: The Doctor and the Hawk [10]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Asexual Midorima Shintarou, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned Generation of Miracles, Mentioned Mibuchi Reo, Neurodiversity, New Years, Non-Neurotypical Midorima Shintarou, Party, Sensory Overload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 15:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5591569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/pseuds/Yrindor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Akashi's annual New Year's party has a less-than-stellar end for Midorima and Takao, Midorima convinces his boyfriend that they should host a party of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Takao forced himself to stand still through yet another round of Midorima making microscopic adjustments to his tuxedo. With the way his boyfriend fussed, one would think he had done more than sit in a car for the ten-minute drive from their hotel to Akashi's house. Akashi had offered to let them stay in one of his many guest rooms, but Midorima had wanted somewhere more private he could retreat to after the party, and Takao was all too happy to oblige. While his relationship with Akashi was no longer as tense as it had been, he still had no real desire to spend the night in Akashi's house. He didn't care what Midorima said; Rakuzan's former ace still unsettled him.

Takao knew it was a reassuring ritual for husband, but if he were being perfectly honest, he would admit that the incessant fussing had the opposite effect on him. After the umpteenth round of Midorima nervously picking invisible lint off of his shoulders and making microscopic adjustments to his tie, Takao couldn't help but start feeling nervous and a bit out of his depth. Growing up, his family's New Year's celebration was always an informal event with everyone gathering at his aunt and uncle's to play games, make mochi, and generally celebrate. The idea of a celebration that required a tuxedo to attend had been completely foreign to him before he started dating Midorima, as had the tuxedo itself to be honest; the first time he tried to get into one, thinking it couldn't be that much more difficult than the suits he wore occasionally, a rather amused and exasperated Midorima had had to come untangle him and get all of the pieces sorted out properly.

Once Midorima was satisfied that neither of them was going to commit an unintended fashion faux pas by having a cufflink out of place, he offered his arm to Takao, and they walked together to the front door of Akashi's spacious house. Before they could ring the doorbell, the door was opened for them, and one of the staff Akashi always hired for the party was offering to take their coats.

Takao took advantage of the brief pause as he tried to get out of his coat without disturbing any of the rest of his attire to survey the rest of the party. Akashi's New Year's parties had started back in their first year of college as a way for the Generation of Miracles and their respective high school teams to meet socially once they were no longer meeting regularly on the court. The first year, it had been a fairly small gathering, and Akashi, with Midorima's encouragement, had decided to go with a more traditional theme, including group poetry composition and recitation. That particular activity hadn't been met with much enthusiasm, and between Aomine's propensity for lewd verse, Kagami's utter lack of any sense of meter, and Izuki's tendency to turn anything into a pun, it had been something a disaster. Luckily, it had not made an appearance since.

Once Akashi began working at his father's company, he started inviting his coworkers and subordinates as well. They had grown in number every year until they made up the majority of the crowd, but Takao still saw some familiar faces. Murasakibara was easy to pick out, towering over the crowd, and since he was carrying little Takeshi, Takao assumed Himuro wasn't far away. Aomine's distinctive drawl was easy to pick out from the rest of the polite chatter, and from there it didn't take him long to locate Aomine in the crowd, currently engrossed in what looked to be a heated discussion with Kagami. Mibuchi looked stunning as usual in a long evening dress, proudly introducing his girlfriend to Nebuya and Hayama. Kise was easy pick out as well, looking far more attractive than should be permitted at the center of a smitten group of office ladies, and the occasional man. Takao didn't see Kuroko, but that didn't mean much; Seirin's smallest member had always been easy to miss, even with his Hawk Eye.

"Midorima, Kazunari, I'm glad you could make it," Akashi said, coming over to greet them. "Please, make yourselves at home, and do try the mochi if you have a chance." Before they had a chance to respond, Akashi had already moved on, greeting another of the new arrivals.

Takao felt Midorima stiffen beside him as Akashi left. "Shin-chan?" he asked, resting a hand on Midorima's arm.

"He's nervous," Midorima said looking at where Akashi had disappeared back into the crowd.

Takao hadn't noticed, and had in fact been about to marvel at Akashi's ability to circulate so easily through the dozens of conversations taking place around them, but Midorima knew Akashi better than he did, and he trusted Midorima's judgement.

"It's understandable," he said. Midorima had told him that Akashi would be resigning from his job early in the new year, and while he didn't know all of the details, he knew it was going to have significant repercussions. He also knew that Akashi was insisting on holding his annual New Year's party as usual, and most of his coworkers didn't yet know of his resignation - a fact Midorima had made sure to emphasize repeatedly over the past several days.

Before Midorima could respond, Riko interrupted them with some new study she wanted Midorima's opinion on. Takao, who knew they could go on for hours once they got started, left them and their medical jargon in search of food. Akashi may have had many flaws in Takao's eyes, but his taste in catering was not one of them.

After fighting his way through Kise's gaggle of admirers, Takao finally made his way to the long tables of food set up at the back of the ballroom. He was just finishing loading his plate when he heard a familiar bark and looked over to see Kuroko picking out choice treats for Nigou. Nigou had traded his familiar jersey for a formal waistcoat for the occasion.

Kuroko smiled at Takao. "It was a gift from Akashi," he said. "He has quite the weak spot for Nigou and spoils him rotten. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Takao reached down to scratch Nigou between the ears. The dog had grown until he was far too big to carry around anymore, but he was just as gentle as he had been as a puppy. Nigou gave a couple of satisfied barks before returning to Kuroko for more treats, and Takao found himself pulled into another conversation with an old acquaintance.

At some point, Takao lost track of who he had and had not seen that night as he passed from group to group. Eventually, he found himself in a conversation with Mibuchi's girlfriend. He hadn't met her before, but he liked her immediately, and he liked her even more when he learned that she had been the one responsible for most of the alterations to Mibuchi's dress. "I've always loved sewing," she said, "and it's much easier than trying to find a tailor who won't look at Reo strangely. We may be living in the twenty-first century, but we still have a long way to go in some areas." Takao nodded in agreement, having had similar thoughts about his relationship with Midorima on multiple occasions.

"But that's enough about us," she continued, "what about you? How do you know Akashi?"

"My basketball team played against his in high school multiple times. I'm mainly here with my boyfriend though; he was Akashi's vice-captain back in middle school. Here, I'll introduce you," Takao said, scanning the crowd for Midorima.

He was so used to being able to find his boyfriend without thinking about it that it caught him off guard when he couldn't immediately locate Midorima. Thinking it had to be due to the sheer number of people in the space, Takao scanned the room again, this time consciously using his Hawk Eye. When he still couldn't find Midorima, he started to worry. While it was possible that Midorima had simply stepped out for a moment to use the bathroom, his gut told him otherwise, and he hurriedly excused himself.

He may not have been able to find his boyfriend, but he did find Izuki, and he managed to pull Izuki away from his puns long enough to get the Eagle Eye to confirm that Midorima was not in the room. That did nothing to reassure Takao, especially since Midorima should have returned by then if he had in fact simply stepped out for a moment. After one last scan of the ballroom, Takao started trying to think of places where his boyfriend could be.


	2. Chapter 2

He found Midorima hugging himself and rocking back and forth at the end of the hallway leading to Akashi's bedroom.

"Shin-chan," he said softly. "Hey, Shin-chan, it's okay."

Midorima didn't respond.

Takao wasn't sure what to do next. He needed to get Midorima's attention so that they could leave, but he didn't want to startle his boyfriend and make things worse. It wasn't the first time he'd been faced with a Shin-chan suffering from sensory overload, but it was the first time it had happened this badly while they were still out. Usually he would notice the signs that they were nearing Midorima's limit, or Midorima would find him and let him know they needed to leave. It was too late for that now though, and he was facing a Shin-chan who wasn't processing anything, but who clearly needed to get back to somewhere quieter.

It should never have gotten to that point, Takao thought. He was normally very good about keeping an eye on Midorima in busy social settings and making sure he made excuses to get them out when necessary. But he had been too engrossed in his own conversations earlier, and he had completely forgotten. For all he knew, Midorima may have tried to signal him from across the room and he hadn't noticed. He knew Midorima didn't always deal well with noisy, crowded situations, and he also knew Midorima hated feeling like a burden and asking to leave early, but he had been so self-absorbed that he had forgotten to pay attention to anything outside of his own little world. It was all his fault, and he was a terrible boyfriend, and he had no idea how he was supposed to make it better.

"Shin-chan. Hey, Shin-chan. Please calm down. It's okay. We can go home now, okay, Shin-chan?" he said, starting to feel a bit panicked himself when Midorima continued rocking and staring blankly past him.

Suddenly, there was a firm hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Takao," a familiar voice ordered, and he found himself being moved out of the way as Akashi took his place in front of Midorima.

"Shintarō," Akashi quietly but firmly, and Takao held his breath. There was so much complicated history between Akashi and the rest of the Generation of Miracles, and Midorima in particular, that Akashi calling any of them by their given name could mean two very different things. These days, it was usually the friendlier of the two, but he hoped Midorima would remember that in his current state.

Whether it was from force of habit or genuine understanding Takao didn't know, but Midorima finally lost his vacant stare to focus on his ex-captain.

"Sit," Akashi ordered in the same tone, and Midorima sat, hugging his knees into his chest and continuing to rock. Takao wondered if Akashi was thinking, because if he was, he should have realized that sitting at Akashi's feet did _not_ have good associations for his Shin-chan, especially not after the lovely Winter Cup debacle of their first year. 

Before he could say anything though, Akashi surprised him and dropped to a knee as well so that he was almost at eye level with Midorima. He rested a hand on Midorima’s forearm. "Look at me, Shintarō," he commanded, and again Takao had to fight the urge to intervene. His Shin-chan didn’t like eye contact even at the best of times, as Akashi really should know by know, but there was no arguing with Akashi, not when he took that tone, and when Midorima looked up at his ex-captain, Takao swore he saw the fire of the latter’s Emperor Eye flare in the dark hallway. He didn’t know what Midorima saw in that moment, but whatever it was, it caused Midorima to lean back against the wall behind him, close his eyes, and let out a long exhale.

"Takao, if you would be so kind as to get Shintarō's coat, and yours as well," Akashi said without looking up. "I’ll let you out the side door."

Part of Takao said that he really should be the one to stay with Midorima, especially since it was his fault they were in this situation to begin with, but another part of him noted that one simply did not argue with a certain red-haired emperor, especially not when he used that tone, and a part of him he'd really rather ignore pointed out that Akashi was handling the situation far better than he had, so swallowed his pride (and the lump in his throat), said, "of course," and made his way back through the ballroom to where all of the coats were hanging neatly by the door. It didn’t take him long to find theirs, with their names neatly written on the labels of course, because Shin-chan labeled everything that could possibly be misplaced. Then he navigated back through the party yet again, trying to ignore the sudden bitter lump in his stomach and avoid anyone he might know. He utterly failed at the former, but largely succeeded at the latter, only having to pause once when Izuki caught him to ask if he had found Midorima.

When he made it back to the hallway, Midorima was still sitting hugging his knees, but he had finally stopped rocking. Akashi was sitting formally in seiza facing him. "Nonsense, Shintarō," he was saying. "There’s no reason for you to make yourself miserable for the sake of a party. Let Takao take you back now, and we can talk later. I’ll give your regards and regrets to anyone who asks."

Takao shuffled his feet loudly to announce his return. "Ah, thank you, Takao," Akashi said, looking up at him. "I'll leave you two here, then; I should get back to the party. Shintarō knows where the door is when you’re ready. Thank you both for coming."

As Akashi walked past him, Takao braced himself; he still hadn’t forgotten Akashi's warning back when he and Shin-chan had first started dating, and he had always feared the day when Akashi would have cause to repeat it. Akashi surprised him, however, when he simply said, "this was _not_ your fault, Kazunari," before continuing back to the party.

"Shin-chan, are you ready?" Takao asked, offering a hand up to his boyfriend. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to go back to their hotel, change out of his stupid penguin suit, and leave the whole mess of a night behind.

"Sorry," Midorima mumbled, squeezing Takao's hand as he stood. Takao shook his head. "Not your fault, Shin-chan. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little bit nervous to post this, because I think I'm one of the few MidoTaka shippers who actually really likes Akashi. The next chapter is all MidoTaka though; expect plenty of hurt/comfort for both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Even though the trip back to their hotel took less than fifteen minutes, it felt interminable to Takao. It didn't help that Midorima hadn't said a word since they left the party. Nor did it help that there had been a taxi waiting for them just outside Akashi's house. While Takao supposed he should be thanking Akashi for that, he couldn't help but feel like it was another mark against him on the "good boyfriend" tally.

By the time they finally made it back to the hotel and up to their room, he was feeling positively miserable. All he really wanted was to curl up next to Shin-chan and listen to his favorite tsundere grumble about him being embarrassing, but several dozen pieces of clothing lay between him and that goal. Sighing, he began the long process of extricating himself from his tuxedo. While he had only ever gotten himself truly stuck once, he still maintained that they had far too many pieces, and extricating himself was always an iterative process of undoing all the buttons he could find, then trying to take pieces off and seeing what was still attached to something else.

After what felt like an eternity, he had successfully removed his jacket, suspenders, cummerbund, and cuff links, but he didn't feel like he was any closer to getting out of the stupid penguin suit as he had been when he walked into the room. He was starting to fight with his shirt in earnest when he couldn't take it anymore. He gave up lest he rip it in frustration and practically ran across the room to wrap himself around Midorima, blinking back the tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks. Luckily, the doctor was more adept at formal wear and had already removed his waistcoat and shirt and hung them both neatly in the small closet, so Takao avoided the inevitable complaints that would have come if he had wrinkled his boyfriend's best dress shirt.

"Shin-chan," Takao whispered, burying his head in Midorima's undershirt and clinging tightly to Midorima's back.

Midorima was caught off guard by Takao's unexpected hug, but he recovered quickly and ran his hand through Takao's hair. He grimaced when it came away slicked with sweat, but he resisted the urge to wipe his hand on his pants even though his oversensitive nerves made the sensation even more unpleasant than usual. It would be easier to retape his fingers than it would be to get stains out of his tuxedo.

The doctor in him noted that there was no reason for Takao to be sweating so much given the weather though, so he pressed the inside of his wrist to Takao's forehead. It was damp, and too warm, and Midorima could feel Takao's heart racing in his chest. "Are you ill?" he asked, wincing as his voice sounded far too loud to his ears. Takao shook his head and tightened his hold on Midorima. "Are you hurt?" Midorima asked, lowing his voice to barely more than a whisper. Takao shook his head again, and Midorima began to worry at his state; his boyfriend was normally anything but silent, and as much as he had been wishing for quiet earlier, this was not what he had had in mind. He didn't see anything obviously wrong with Takao though, so he set the doctor in himself aside and stayed where he was, one hand buried in Takao's sweat-damp hair and the other patting him awkwardly on the back.

Several minutes later, when Takao had relaxed his hold somewhat, Midorima slid his hand around from Takao's back to tug gently on the end of his bow tie. When Takao didn't resist, he pulled again more firmly, untying it and setting it neatly on the bed. He kept Takao hugged tightly to him as he removed Takao's shirt studs by feel alone, and for once he was grateful for the long hours in the ER that had taught him to see with his fingers what he couldn't see with his eyes.

The studs clicked together in his hand as he loosened Takao's hold on him just enough to slip the Hawk Eye's arms out of the sleeves. The shirt joined the discarded bow tie on the bed, and Midorima held Takao close. He could feel the warmth radiating from Takao's body through their thin undershirts. Takao sniffled. "Sorry, Shin-chan," he said, his voice muffled by Midorima's chest, "it shouldn't have taken me so long to find you tonight."

"It's not your responsibility."

"Shin-chan, you've been my responsibility since the day we met," Takao said with a quiet chuckle.

Midorima had no response for that. He let go of Takao. "Go finish changing before you catch a cold, fool," he said.

Takao sniffled once more and nodded before bouncing over to where he had left his luggage to dig out his pajamas. By the time he finished changing, Midorima had changed as well and was already curled up in a ball on his side of the bed. Takao crawled in next to him, curling up comfortably next to Midorima's broad back.

Nearly an hour later, when Midorima had had time to recharge and was starting to uncurl, Takao finally asked the question that had been bothering him. "Shin-chan, when Akashi told you to look in his eyes earlier, what did you see?"

"The truth," Midorima said quietly. "Akashi may not say it as much now as he used to, but he’s just as absolute as ever. What he says comes to pass, and his Emperor Eye shows the certainty of that future. You've been on the receiving end of his Emperor Eye before, so you know how, as an enemy, you see your own powerlessness and the certainty of your defeat, but that's not the only thing it can show. When he says 'it's okay' with the full power of his Eye behind it, there's no question of it being anything else. Most people inevitably add some other meaning to that phrase when they say it. 'It's okay, so please stop worrying; you're upsetting me,' or 'it's okay; you're being irrational,' or any other number of other things. There's no such value added when he says it, just the certainty that it _is_ okay, and he will deal with anything that dares threaten that."

"He's done that for you before?" Takao asked.

"Only once. Do you remember our university entrance exams?"

Takao nodded against Midorima's back. "You studied every waking hour for months. You probably spent more time studying than most of the other applicants combined, but you were still terrified when the day finally came. I was afraid you were going to make yourself sick you were so nervous."

"I was," Midorima admitted. "I kept repeating 'man proposes, God disposes' to myself, but it didn't help. I ended up making an emergency stop in one of the bathrooms, and when I left, still muttering to myself, Akashi was leaning against the wall just outside the door.

"I know he was there for Todai entrance exam as well, but I don't know what made him wait there specifically. He did though, and he said the same thing he said tonight. Everything would be okay. And when he said it, I could believe it, and suddenly, I could focus again. He's never mentioned it since, but I don't think I would have been accepted at Todai if he hadn't done that."

There was a long pause before Takao spoke again. "Why did you choose me?" he asked finally.

"What?" Midorima shifted to look over his shoulder at Takao.

"You've known Akashi for longer, and from what I've heard, you were practically inseparable back in middle school. He's from a well-respected family, has always been at the top of his class, went to the best school in the country, and rose to a higher position in business in five years than most people do in five decades. I'm an average student from a no-name family who went to an average school, and now I have what most people would consider a less-than-average job. There's no comparison, so what made you pick me over him?"

Midorima turned to face Takao. "I care about Akashi the way one cares about a sibling," he said. "I'd do anything to help him, and he'd do the same for me, but I don't love him, at least not in the way you mean.

"I can't love him, at least not the way he deserves to be loved," he continued more quietly. "I care deeply for the Akashi I first met, and if things had gone differently then, maybe we would have gone down that route eventually, but that's not what happened. I've made my peace with the Akashi you first met, and I can at least be civil around him, but I can't forget what he did to Akashi and to the rest of us, and I certainly can't love him. Even if I did have romantic feelings towards Akashi, which I don't, I wouldn't subject him to that. If he's going to be with anyone, he deserves someone who cares for all of him, not someone who could only ever love one part of him.

"You wanted to know what I saw in you? I'll tell you what I told everyone who couldn't understand why I would choose to live halfway across Tokyo with you instead of right next to the Todai campus with Akashi. He and I are a good fit academically. Even though we studied different things, we've always pushed one another in that way, and with both of us being driven to excel, especially in academics, there was little risk of one of us distracting the other. But there's more to life than that. If there's one good thing that came out of the disaster that was middle school, it was the warning of what happens when that drive and that pressure go to far. That's what I saw in you. You're incredibly driven when it's something you care about; I think our high school basketball career shows that, but that's not your defining characteristic. You're laughter and ridiculous ideas, and you aren't afraid to drag me away from my books when necessary. To me, there never was a question about it, even before romantic feelings were involved. I chose the person who'd refused to give up on dragging me out of my shell back in high school, and who I knew would do the same even when I was a prickly, overworked, sleep-deprived med student, and that's what I told everyone who asked."

"How did people react?" Takao asked. Even though they had been together for years, he had never heard this particular piece of history before.

"My family wanted me to live with Akashi for obvious reasons, but they didn't push too hard once my mind was made up. The did make it very clear that they'd stop paying my living expenses if my grades slipped while I was living with you, but that was it. I don't think Masaomi cared one way or the other what Akashi did either, so long as he kept up his perfect record. I'm not even sure he knew where Akashi was living in college; I'm sure the only reason he would have cared would be if Akashi were living somewhere he thought would 'reflect poorly on the Akashi name' to use his favorite phrase."

"You've never regretted it?"

"Never."

Takao curled into Midorima. "Thank you, Shin-chan," he said, stealing one last hug before he slid back to his half of the bed.

"Goodnight, Takao," Midorima replied, setting his glasses on the end table and turning out the light.

For several minutes, the only sound in the room was their even breathing. Then, Midorima spoke quietly to the dark room. "I love you, Kazunari."

"I love you too, Shin-chan."


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, they both rose early. Takao would have preferred to take a more leisurely start to the day, but Midorima had a shift at the hospital starting at noon. He had managed to clear his schedule for Akashi's party, but the price was that he was working a full thirty-hour shift starting at noon and running through Sunday evening. Sometimes Takao wished their schedules overlapped a bit more, but Midorima loved his job, and Takao wasn't about to ask him to give that up for the sake of their schedules. They just made do with the time they could find.

They had only been away for one night, so it didn't take long to pack. Really, it was just a matter of fitting their tuxedos back into the appropriate garment bags and shoving their toiletries and pajamas back into their other bag. They hadn't even used the dressers in the hotel room, but that didn't stop Midorima from double-checking all of the drawers, and under the bed, and in the corners of the bathroom, just to make sure they hadn't left anything behind.

Not many people were checking out of the hotel at the crack of dawn on a Saturday, so they were outside within minutes, and it was only a short walk from there to the train station. They had been lucky enough to be able to pick up Midorima's lucky item for the day - a hair brush - at the small shop in the hotel, so there was nothing stopping them from going directly to the station. Midorima had taken charge of both of their tickets as he usually did when the traveled together, and it wasn't long before they were sitting on the shinkansen bound for Tokyo. As soon as the train departed, Midorima took several thick medical journals out of his bag and buried himself in them, which Takao took as his cue to pull out his headphones and listen to the highlights of the most recent basketball games as he watched the scenery zip by. He had several sports magazines and teaching journals in his bag, but unlike Midorima, he had never been able to read on the train without it making him feel sick.

Since Midorima had a tendency to get engrossed in his reading and lose track of everything around him, Takao expected to spend the entire trip in that manner, but to his surprise, Midorima reached over and tapped him on the shoulder as they were passing through Mishima.

"I was thinking," Midorima said once Takao took off his headphones, "that it might be nice to host a holiday gathering ourselves, just for a small group."

Out of everything Takao had expected Midorima to say, that had not been on the list. Usually Takao was the one trying to convince Midorima to take part in a social event, not the other way around, but if Midorima wanted that, he wasn't about to dissuade him. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Just something small and informal some afternoon; probably on a weekend so that as many people as possible can make it. I haven't seen some of our friends in awhile, and I didn't get much of a chance do see most of them last night either."

"Who would you invite?"

"Akashi, Kuroko, Aomine, Kise, though he probably won't be able to make it, Murasakibara, which means Himuro and Takeshi as well, Kagami and Kasamatsu, Riko, and Hyūga and Kiyoshi as well, Nijimura if he's available, Mibuchi, and probably Sakurai as well, and you'll probably want to invite Izuki," Midorima said, rattling off the list as if he had already listed it all out before he started speaking. Knowing Midorima, Takao thought it was likely he had done exactly that.

Takao had been counting on his fingers as Midorima spoke. "So about fifteen or twenty people?" he said once he tallied everything up. "It might be a little bit tight if everyone can make it, but we should be able to fit everyone in the apartment. Did you have any other plans?"

"I wanted to make cookies," Midorima said quickly, half-hiding behind one of his journals.

"You what!?" Takao exclaimed, trying not to laugh.

"I want to make cookies," Midorima repeated. "It seems like the sort of thing you're supposed to do for something like this, and I like the smell of them when they're baking, especially the red bean ones."

"Umm, Shin-chan," Takao began, trying to figure out how to bring up the subject tactfully.

"Yes, I remember what happened last time, Takao," Midorima said, "but you'll be there, and the ban doesn't count if someone else is around, right?"

"I guess," Takao said finally, but he was still a bit wary of the idea. Not long after Midorima joined the ER as a full-fledged doctor, he had offered to bake cookies for a staff coffee. He had tried to make them while Takao was out and had somehow managed to swap the salt and the sugar. If that hadn't been bad enough, he then was distracted by a new medical journal while the cookies were in the oven, and he completely forgot about them until the smoke set off the fire alarm. Unfortunately, Kagami had been at the fire station that day, and he was the one to respond to the alarm. After that, Takao had banned Midorima from cooking for company and from using the oven when no one else was home.

"Pick a day and we can let people know," Takao said finally, resigning himself to at least one day of kitchen supervision.

Midorima took out his phone and looked at his calendar. "I'm not working three Saturdays from now," he said.

"I'll let people know today while you're at work if you want," Takao said after confirming he wasn't teaching that day either.

"I'll call Akashi myself, but if you wouldn't mind letting everyone else know," Midorima said, grateful that Takao was offering. He may have been the one to bring up the idea of the party, but he'd gladly leave the actual contacting of most people to someone else.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful, with Midorima returning to his medical journals and Takao entertaining himself with highlights of some recent basketball games. Their train arrived back in Tokyo right on schedule, like usual, which gave Midorima just enough time to return to the apartment with Takao to drop off his tuxedo and overnight bag, for which Takao was secretly grateful. He had learned quite a lot about formal attire and etiquette over the years, but if he had been in charge of bringing the bags home and putting them away, he invariably would have ended up on the receiving side of one of Midorima's rather dry lectures on etiquette — likely with a recommended reading list on the subject e-mailed to him afterward as well.

As soon as Midorima left for the hospital, Takao sat down with his laptop and composed the invitation e-mail, double-checking the recipients against the list Midorima had come up with on the train. He knew several people would almost certainly be unavailable, but he'd at least send them the invite.

> **From:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **To:** Aida Riko, Aomine Daiki, Himuro Tatsuya, Hyūga Junpei, Kagami Taiga, Kasamatsu Yukio, Kise Ryōta, Kiyoshi Teppei, Kuroko Tetsuya, Mibuchi Reo, Murasakibara Atsushi, Nijimura Shūzō, Sakurai Ryo  
>  **Cc:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Hey Everyone,
> 
> Shin-chan and I are going to be hosting a holiday party at our place three weeks from now (Saturday 1/23). It should be a very informal event, so we hope to see a lot of you there. If you can make it, please RSVP to me.
> 
> Happy New Year,  
>  Takao

Takao hesitated before he hit send, was it too informal to say "Shin-chan" like that? He considered changing it to "Midorima," or even just "Shintarō," briefly, but then he shrugged and hit send as it was. Midorima would probably grumble about it later, but it wasn't like anyone else cared that much about formality. Well, except possibly Akashi, but Midorima had said he'd take care of that invitation himself.

With the group e-mail sent, Takao turned to write one of his own as he waited for the responses to start trickling in.

> **From:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **To:** Izuki Shun  
>  **Subject:** Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Heya Izuki,
> 
> Shin-chan's hosting a holiday party at our place three weeks from now (well, technically we're hosting it, but it was his idea). Let me know if you can make it; there should be a lot of familiar faces.
> 
> See you in class next week. Looking forward to starting the obstacle courses with the little ones.
> 
> ~Kazunari

In the short time it had taken him to e-mail Izuki, Takao had already received several replies to his first message. He was a bit surprised at first until he remembered that, even though Midorima was at work, it was a Saturday, and most of their friends were at home.

> **From:** Aomine Daiki  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari, Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> I'm on duty then. Won't be able to make it. Sorry.

> **From:** Kise Ryōta  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Waaahh, why couldn't it be a week earlier Takaocchi!? We're doing a shoot up in Sapporo that day  
>  。・゜・(ノД`)・゜・。

> **From:** Kuroko Tetsuya  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Thank you for the invitation, Takao-kun; I will be there. I'll look forward to seeing you and Midorima-kun soon.

> **From:** Mibuchi Reo  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> I'm sorry I didn't get much chance to catch up with you at Akashi's party; I look forward to catching up with you at this. I let Ryo know I'd be attending, so you'll probably hear from him soon as well.  
>  ~Reo ♥

> **From:** Himuro Tatsuya  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Cc:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Thanks for the invite, Kazunari. Atsushi and I will attend. Do you mind if we bring Takeshi? Atsushi still worries about leaving him with a babysitter.

Takao stopped reading the replies for just long enough to send Himuro a quick reply that Takeshi was more than welcome at their party. It still surprised him sometimes that Murasakibara, and by extension Himuro, was the first person from his high school friend group to have children. He never would have guessed it, but from the small pieces he had seen, Murasakibara was actually an excellent parent.

> **From:** Kasamatsu Yukio  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari, Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Sounds good. I made some changes to the patrol schedules, so disregard Ahomine's earlier e-mail; we'll both be there.

> **From:** Kagami Taiga  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari, Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Sorry guys, I'm at the station that day. Have fun though.

> **From:** Sakurai Ryo  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> I never expected to receive an invitation like this from you; I don't know what to say. Reo-nii said he's going though, so I guess I'll go too; I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience.  
>  Best Regards,  
>  Ryo

> **From:** Kiyoshi Teppei  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> Thanks for hosting this; it'll be good to catch up. I believe Riko and Hyūga should be there as well, but don't hold me to that; both of their schedules have been a bit uncertain recently.

Takao felt strangely exhausted when he finally made it to the end of the messages and carefully checked everyone off against his master list. If he was going to be in charge of making sure Midorima didn't burn down the house while trying to cook for the group, he wanted to know exactly how many people they needed to be preparing for.

He had just settled with a couple of cookbooks to start looking for simple recipes to suggest when his phone buzzed with a new message.

> **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **From:** Izuki Shun  
>  **Subject:** Holiday Party  
>  Thanks for thinking of me, Takao. Your party sounds FUNtastic; I'll be there.  
>  P.S. Call me when you have a chance; I have some ideas for Monday's class.

Takao groaned. If anything, who swore Izuki's puns had gotten worse over time, or possibly he had just heard most of them by this point, and they were never as good the second time. He was glad Izuki was thinking of their class though; it was a relatively new one for them, and they were still working out the details. While the most recent iteration hadn't been as much of a disaster as the first attempt, there was still significant room for improvement.

He finished flagging several recipes for Midorima to look at later, then set the cookbooks aside, dug out his teaching notes, and called Izuki. As was often they case when they talked, they ended up getting sidetracked, and by the time Takao finally hung up, it was already getting dark.

It was also time for dinner, his stomach reminded him noisily, so he stopped to make dinner, humming to himself as he cooked. He took full advantage of cooking only for himself to make kimchi miso and all of his other personal favorites that Midorima didn't particularly enjoy. When he finished, he set everything out on the coffee table in the living room. He was planning on watching a movie while he ate, but first he checked his e-mail and found replies from everyone else he had been waiting on.

> **From:** Hyūga Junpei  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> I'm hoping to make it over at least for a little while, but I'm presenting at a major conference on the 24th, so I may be spending the day preparing. I'll let you know once we're closer to the actual date.  
>  -Junpei

> **From:** Aida Riko  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> I'll be at your party. I told Midorima earlier when I ran into him in the cafeteria, but he said you're keeping track of responses, so I'll let you know too.
> 
> P.S. Junpei's coming too, no matter what he says; he's been spending way too much time buried in his research recently

Takao cringed as he read Riko's message. Not so much for the second half; he'd let her and Hyūga work that out on their own; he'd learned long ago not to get in the way of of a determined Riko. He'd had the hospital cafeteria's food once though, and he thought even classifying it as such was a bit of a stretch. He normally sent Midorima with food, especially when he was working long shifts or odd hours, but he hadn't had the chance to make anything before Midorima had left. He decided he'd bring an extra-nice bento by the hospital in the morning to make up for it.

> **From:** Nijimura Shūzō  
>  **To:** Takao Kazunari  
>  **Cc:** Midorima Shintarō  
>  **Subject:** Re: Holiday Party Saturday 1/23, 1-4 pm
> 
> My apologies, but I'll be unable to attend your party. We have the opening arguments for a major case on the 25th, so I'll be spending most of the weekend in the office preparing.
> 
> With Warm Regards for the New Year,  
>  Nijimura Shūzō

Satisfied, Takao finished checking people off of his list. All he was waiting on now was for Midorima to get back to him about Akashi.

With that done, and his class planning for Monday done as well, Takao queued up the movie on his computer and settled in for the night. He hadn't made it far when his phone rang. He smiled when he looked at the display.

"Hey, Shin-chan," he said.

"Evening, Takao."

"I take it you're having a quiet evening?" Takao asked.

"Almost alarmingly so, so I thought it best to call now in case that changes later," Midorima said dryly. While it wasn't always possible, he tried to call Takao during a break whenever he had a long shift that kept him at the hospital overnight. They were never lengthy calls, usually just enough to say good night, but Takao looked forward to them nonetheless.

"Have you had a chance to speak to Akashi yet?" Takao asked. "I heard back from everyone else today. Almost everyone can make it."

"I spoke with him before my shift started. He's planning on coming, but things are still a bit up in the air for him at the moment, so if something comes up unexpectedly, he may need to stay in Kyoto."

"Great. I picked out some recipes today for you to look at later."

"I'll look at them tomorrow. How did"—Midorima stopped abruptly, and Takao heard him rummaging around in the background—"Sorry, I'm needed elsewhere; break's over. See you tomorrow," Midorima said quickly.

"Bye, Shin-chan. Love you," Takao said. He was used to being interrupted mid-call by now; it seemed to happen fairly regularly.

"Good night, Takao," Midorima said as he hung up.

Takao groaned as he settled back on the couch with his movie. He knew Midorima loved his job, but he'd never want to trade; he didn't think there was any job he'd love enough to put up with the long hours that sometimes didn't even include time for proper meals. He was far happier with his job that let him spend the night curled up with a movie. He'd like it even more if Shin-chan were curled up on the couch with him, but that was the cost of dating a doctor. He'd known what he was getting into back when he first started dating a med student, and he'd never looked back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter; there were a lot of backstories that needed to be worked out behind-the-scenes.


	5. Chapter 5

When the day of the party finally came, Midorima did everything in his power to ensure that it would go as smoothly as possible. He checked Oha Asa as soon as he woke up and was relieved to discover that Scorpio and Cancer were ranked first and second respectively, and he wasted no time in sending Takao out in search of dried flowers, preferably white.

He had managed to work his schedule so that not only did he have the day off, he wasn't even on call. It was a rare occurrence with the ER as perpetually understaffed as it seemed to be, but one that Midorima planned to take full advantage of. It would take a major emergency to drag him out of the apartment before his next scheduled shift.

Once Takao returned from his errand, dried daisies in hand, he and Midorima enjoyed a leisurely start to the day. It was an almost unheard of luxury for both of them to be in the apartment together in the morning with no one needing to rush out the door, and Takao took advantage of it to make pancakes from one of Murasakibara's recipes and serve them spread thickly with anko. They ate on the couch with Midorima still in his pajamas, and while the doctor gave his requisite half-hearted lecture on the lack of nutritional value in the meal, it didn't stop him from going back for seconds.

After they finished, Midorima washed the dishes while Takao set out the recipes and everything they would need to make them. Midorima had finally settled on shiruko shortbread cookies, a simple green tea cake, and a homemade dip to go with the vegetables Takao would chop. Various other people had offered to bring some of their favorites as well, so there was no risk of running out of food even with Aomine and Murasakibara both planning to attend.

Once everything was ready, Takao gave Midorima one of the pair of matching aprons that Himuro had given them. They had belonged to him and Murasakibara, but once Takeshi came into the picture, Murasakibara had insisted on getting a new set for all three of them. The hand-me-downs were clearly well-loved and worn, but Takao was more than happy to finally have a replacement for the one his grandmother had given back in college. It had been a gift right after she found out he was dating Midorima, and she declared he absolutely had to take care of the dear, sweet, overworked med student. She had given the two of them some of her spare pans and cookware as well, which still formed the core of their kitchen. The apron was less durable than cast iron though and had been nearing the end of its useful life, so Takao had gladly accepted the replacements.

After making sure Midorima was at least slightly protected from the flour that would inevitably be flying, Takao set himself up at the side counter with the vegetables. He had his back to Midorima, but he used his Hawk Eye to keep an eye on his boyfriend and offer guidance and redirection when necessary. He had to remind himself not to let the sight of Midorima awkwardly rolling out cookie dough distract him from the vegetables he was slicing too much though, not when Shin-chan had only just recently stopped giving him grief over the kitchen accident that had landed him in the ER some six months earlier.

Although the infamous cookie incident would suggest otherwise, Takao had noticed that most of Midorima's issues in the kitchen came not from a lack of attention to detail, but rather from an overly strict adherence to it. If a recipe called for 200ml of water, then Midorima would measure and add precisely that amount, no matter what the resulting dough looked like. And heaven forbid a recipe called in step five for something that was assumed, though never explicitly stated, to have been done in step two.

With Takao there to make the little tweaks to recipes that were an integral part of cooking, and to make sure the unspoken steps like preheating the oven and flouring the pan were taken care of, Midorima was not nearly so terrible in the kitchen as his solo attempts would lead one to believe. Thus, it was with a minimum of fuss and with nearly an hour to spare that Takao sent Midorima off to shower, arranged the last of the cookies on a tray, and declared the preparations for the party a success. He checked his phone one last time to make sure no one had had last-minute scheduling conflicts come up, which was always a risk with their friend's chosen professions. Seeing none, he waited for Midorima to finish in the shower before going to clean up himself.

By the time he was ready, it was less than fifteen minutes before the party was supposed to start, and Midorima was looking decidedly nervous.

"Shin-chan," Takao said, wrapping his arms around Midorima's waist and waiting until his boyfriend's instinctive reaction to stiffen and freeze gave way to him relaxing into Takao's hold. "Everyone who's going to be here today knows you, which also means that absolutely no one is going to think any less of you if you need to take a break and go sit in the bedroom for awhile, so try to stop worrying about that and enjoy yourself."

Midorima took a few deep breaths, reaching up to lace his fingers through Takao's still-damp hair. After a minute, he let his head fall forward, burying his nose in Takao's hair. Takao rubbed circles on Midorima's back with his thumb.

Their private moment was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "They're early," Midorima said, glaring at the door. Takao pressed a quick kiss to Midorima's shoulder before going to welcome their first guests.

Given that the party wasn't scheduled to begin for another ten minutes, Takao had been expecting Akashi, or possibly Kuroko. He definitely hadn't been expecting to find Murasakibara holding a large basket of bread and taking up most of the doorway, with Himuro squeezed into the little space that was left.

"Sorry we're early," Himuro said as soon as Takao opened the door. "We left extra time for baby wrangling, but Takeshi surprised us and slept the whole way here. He didn't even stir on the subway."

"Is he ill?" Midorima asked. He had been standing back against the wall out of the way, but once his professional instincts took over, he moved quickly over towards where Himuro had Takeshi securely tucked into the baby carrier on his chest. Murasakibara stopped him before he could actually reach Takeshi. "Takeshi's sleeping. Don't wake the baby," he said, glaring down at Midorima.

"But if he's ill-" Midorima started to argue, but he was cut off by Himuro.

"Shintarō, Takeshi is fine. He doesn't normally nap for quite this long, but he was also up most of the night with a bout of colic." When Midorima didn't move, Himuro sighed, "Atsushi, let Shintarō see; it can't hurt," he said patiently.

Murasakibara frowned, but he stepped aside. Midorima, after looking to Himuro for permission, pressed the inside of his wrist to Takeshi's forehead, and once he convinced himself that Takeshi wasn't running a fever, he went back to his spot against the wall.

As soon as Murasakibara finished putting away their coats, he started tugging on the strap of the baby carrier. "Muro-chin," he whined, "my turn."

Himuro smiled and started undoing the straps to transfer it over to Murasakibara. If Murasakibara had had his way, he would have been the one to carry Takeshi whenever they went out, but they had learned early on that Murasakibara could either think about not hitting his head on anything, or he could think about not hitting Takeshi's head on anything, but he couldn't do both at once. After a particularly nasty bump had narrowly avoided sending Murasakibara to Midorima's hospital, they agreed that Himuro would carry Takeshi whenever they were traveling, and Murasakibara could have him once they reached their destination.

Once Takeshi was securely ensconced on Murasakibara's chest, Murasakibara retreated to the couch, looking affectionately at the sleeping baby and glaring at anyone who threatened to disturb them. Himuro left Murasakibara to his baby time and soon found himself in a heated discussion with Takao about a new video game they had both been playing.

When the doorbell rang again several minutes later, Midorima peeled himself away from the wall to open the door for Kiyoshi, Riko, and Hyūga. Riko was trying to force Hyūga to put down a large book, and if the long-suffering look on Kiyoshi's face was any indication, it was an argument that had been going on for some time.

"Please excuse them," Kiyoshi said, sounding somewhat strained, "Junpei's editor wants the draft of his book by the end of the month, and it's been a challenge dragging Junpei out of his room recently."

Midorima winced as Riko took the book from Hyūga and shoved it into her own bag; he was vaguely reminded of the times in med school when Takao would hold his pens and highlighters hostage until he took at break. He stepped aside to let all three of them into the apartment. Kiyoshi immediately made a beeline for Murasakibara, somehow managing to get through the latter's overprotective parent mode to coo over the baby. Hyūga immediately went to the open chair and settled down with a pencil and several scraps of paper. Midorima dragged Riko back to his spot along the wall, and it wasn't long before they were deep in a discussion of a new journal article and the validity of the statistical analysis it used. They may have been in two very different fields within the hospital, Midorima in the ER and Riko in physical therapy, but there seemed to be no lack of mutually relevant articles for them to discuss.

The doorbell rang again, and this time it was Takao who opened the door, then looked up and down the hallway when he didn't see anyone.

"It's me, Takao-kun," a quiet voice said from right in front of him, and he jumped as Kuroko seemed to materialize out of thin air in front of him.

"You've been practicing again," Takao grumbled. Kuroko gave him his best innocent look, which Takao didn't believe for a second. Kuroko's invisibility had become something of a game between him, Takao, and Izuki in the years since the three of them had started teaching. Izuki and Takao had their Eagle and Hawk Eyes respectively to help them, and Kuroko had his misdirection to hide from them. The kids in Kuroko's class loved it whenever Izuki or Takao would come to teach. They didn't seem to care whether Kuroko hid successfully from Izuki and Takao or whether Takao and Izuki managed to find him when the kids couldn't, all they cared about was watching a bunch of adults play what was essentially glorified version of hide-and-seek.

Takao let Kuroko in, but before he could close the door, he saw Mibuchi and Sakurai coming down the hall together. Mibuchi was dressed up for the occasion, and while Takao didn't have any concrete reason for the feeling, his gut told him that the skirt he was wearing had probably been made for him by his girlfriend. The intricate beading and lace work were quite a contrast to Sakurai's informal jeans and a black jacket. The former Touou player looked slightly terrified as Mibuchi ushered him down the hallway.

"Mibuchi, Ryo, hello," Takao called in greeting. Sakurai yelped and jumped in surprise. "Sorry," he apologized as he entered the apartment.

"I'm glad you could make it," Takao replied, ignoring Sakurai's apologies with the ease that came with practice; some things never changed.

Mibuchi excused himself and went straight to Midorima when he entered; if the look on his face was any indication, it was work-related, so Takao left them to it. He had fully expected to have to try to coax Sakurai back out of the kitchen or some other quiet corner, so he was surprised when he turned back and found Sakurai in an animated conversation with Hyūga. It wasn't until names that he remembered from history classes hit his ears that he remembered that one of Sakurai's favorite manga artists was currently working on a Sengoku-period samurai manga, and Sakurai and Hyūga seemed quite content to be debating the series from both artistic and historical perspectives.

Takao took advantage of the momentary lull in arrivals to pick up one of the plates of Midorima's cookies and start offering it around. He nearly dropped it a couple of minutes later when someone started pounding on the door. A shouted "Oy! Takao, open the damn door!" joined the pounding, and Takao quickly put the cookies down to open the door for Aomine.

Aomine and Kasamatsu had both come directly from work, and they hadn't bothered to change out of their uniforms. 

Aomine scanned the room as he entered. "Ryo! Long time no see!" he said as he crossed the room to where Sakurai was sitting on the arm of Hyūga's chair.

Sakurai yelped again, and started to make a beeline for anywhere other than there, but Mibuchi, who had excused himself to Midorima and Riko the moment Aomine started pounding on the door, had already placed himself between Sakurai and the hallway and was gently encouraging him to stay. Sakurai needn't have worried though, because Aomine had barely made it a couple of steps before Kasamatsu grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him to a stop. "Ahomine, indoor voice, remember? And no scaring people."

"Sakurai, you can do this," Mibuchi said gently.

"How about we try this again," Kasamatsu suggested, giving his best reassuring smile. After an encouraging pat on the shoulder from Mibuchi, Sakurai nodded and stepped forward. "It's nice to see you, Aomine-kun," he said.

"You too," Aomine replied stiffly. "It's been awhile, how've you been?"

"Quite well, thank you. I just signed a contract to do the illustrations for the newest book from one of my favorite authors. It still doesn't feel completely real. How have you been?"

Aomine shrugged. "Fine," he said. "It's been a quiet few months; we're hoping it holds."

There was a long pause before Aomine awkwardly asked "Things are good with…y'know?"

Sakurai nodded, "…or, at least much better," he said, looking down at the floor.

An awkward silence stretched between them again until Mibuchi took pity and dragged Sakurai over to meet Takeshi, and Kasamatsu scolded Aomine affectionately for his lack of conversational skills.

Although Murasakibara would have been perfectly happy to spend the entire party on the couch with Takeshi to himself, the baby, who had woken up when Kuroko arrived, was proving to be one of the high points of the party for everyone, and after much persuasion and the promise of sweets from Himuro, he finally allowed Kuroko to hold the baby for a few minutes.

Takao thought he had rarely seen Kuroko as happy as he looked in that moment, even with Murasakibara hovering nervously over his shoulder and dropping crumbs from Midorima's cookies on his shoulders. The final verdict from the baker was that the cookies were overall more than acceptable, which was high praise coming from him, especially when directed at Midorima. Midorima practically glowed when he heard that, and Takao had a sinking suspicion that he would supervising kitchen projects more frequently in the near future.

The party was well underway by the time the doorbell rang again, and Takao opened the door for Akashi who was holding a large platter of sushi and looking perfectly calm and composed, though his arrival a half hour after the party started suggested his day up until then had been anything but that to Takao.

"Come in, Akashi," he said. "We're glad you could make it."

"Thank you, Kazunari," Akashi replied, letting Takao take the food from him. "I apologize for my tardiness; I had a work-related issue that required my attention this morning."

The minute Akashi entered, Kiyoshi rose from where he had been watching Kuroko play with Takeshi. "Akashi, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm well, thank you," Akashi replied.

"You got everyone placed in time?" he asked.

"I had almost everyone moved before my last day. There was only one who was a bit more difficult, and I finalized that placement this morning. As of several hours ago, I no longer have any obligation, real or perceived, to the Akashi Corporation."

"Congratulations. You're still happy with your decision?"

"I am. It was the right choice," Akashi said without hesitation.

"You haven't seen Takeshi in a while, have you?" Kiyoshi asked, changing the subject. "He's grown a lot, you should come say hello."

Akashi followed Kiyoshi over to the growing group by the couch. Murasakibara grinned widely when he saw Akashi. "Akachin, Takechin's getting big," he said, pointing at the baby, who was still being held by a very happy Kuroko.

"He is, and he looks very happy."

"We're happy," Murasakibara corrected. "Thank you."

"I'm glad it worked out," Akashi said, kneeling down to play with Takeshi himself. "You haven't run into any more problems?"

Murasakibara shook his head. "You scared them, Aka-chin," he said happily. "They don't say anything anymore."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Takeshi chose that minute to start fussing, so the conversation ended as Murasakibara took the baby back from Kuroko and waited for Himuro to dig through their bag and find the baby food.

Izuki, who had been caught up filling in for an instructor who called in sick, arrived an hour later. He made a beeline for Hyūga and made his former captain groan by debuting a new set of Sengoku Era puns he had been collecting since the last time they had crossed paths.

With everyone there, Takao took a minute to survey the apartment. It was a bit crowded, but not uncomfortably so, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even the usual wallflowers like Midorima. And if the largely empty serving plates were any indication, the food had been popular and well-received as well.

At some point, Aomine noticed Sakurai sketching basketball action scenes on a napkin, and it wasn't long before they were deep in a somewhat hesitant conversation on the sport they used to play together. Sakurai never fully lost his deer-in-the-headlights look, but it was a significant improvement from his attempt to bolt earlier in the afternoon. Neither he nor Aomine noticed Kasamatsu and Mibuchi watching them from across the room and smiling like proud parents.

Near the end of the party, Kise called Takao from a break in shooting, and Takao put the phone on speaker in the middle of the coffee table. They only had a few minutes before Kise was pulled back to work, but it was just enough time for everyone to send their greetings.

Not long after that, Takeshi started fussing and making it clear that he was done for the day, so Murasakibara and Himuro departed. Hyūga left not long after that, dragging Kiyoshi and Riko away in his rush to get back to his writing. Everyone else trickled out after that until it was just Takao and Midorima left with the well picked-over remains of food from the party.

Midorima flopped on the couch with a sigh of relief. He had enjoyed the party, but it had been a lot of people for a long time, and he was glad for the peace and quiet.

Takao started to clear the debris from the party, carrying all of the empty dishes to the kitchen. "Takao, not now," Midorima said, wincing as the plates clattered in the sink. "Clean-up can wait."

Takao came back into the living room and stretched out in the open chair, legs over one armrest and his head hanging back over the other. "Sure, Shin-chan," he said. "It was fun though, right?"

"It was, but also exhausting. Let's not do anything just now," Midorima said, closing his eyes and reveling in the silence.

Takao took out his phone, entertaining himself with mindless games for the next hour until Midorima stretched out and stood, which was Takao's cue to rise as well and help with the dishes and the cleaning.

By the time everything was clean, they were both ready for bed. As they lay in the darkness, Takao slipped his hand across the space between them to twine around Midorima's fingers. "It was fun to see everyone today" he said.

Midorima made a noise of affirmation. "Thank you, Takao," he said quietly, squeezing Takao's hand before letting go.

"You're welcome, Shin-chan," Takao replied, pulling his hand back to his side of the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this brings us to the end of this story. Updates in this series may slow down a bit while I work on editing my KnB fantasy AU from NaNo and getting that posted. The next couple of stories here are side stories of how Takeshi came into Murasakibara and Himuro's lives and how Mibuchi and Sakurai came to be such good friends. Thanks to everyone who's been reading this, and hopefully you'll stick around.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and feedback are welcome.


End file.
